The Trump administration has proposed billions in cuts to NASA’s budget, putting at risk major partnerships, and shifting the space agency’s priorities from the moon to Mars.
Reacting to these cuts, European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher emphasized “the importance of cooperation in space activities.”
Ashbacher said ESA would assess the impact of the proposed NASA budget for the coming fiscal year, released on May 2, as questions remained about the “full repercussions” of the changes.
The administration’s budget proposal for NASA includes cuts to the Artemis moon program, an international collaboration, in which Europe is a technical and scientific partner.
If confirmed in a more detailed submission in late May or early June, it would remove about $6 billion (€5.29bn) from NASA’s budget and provide, Reuters reports, “a boost to the Mars-focused agenda pushed by billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.”
Congress is required to pass the measures for them to take effect.
The proposed cuts follow earlier reductions in March, which resulted in the closure of three offices at NASA and the elimination of its chief scientist and chief technologist roles.
They also follow a laudatory press release from NASA on April 29, which boasted “NASA soars to new heights in first 100 days of Trump Administration.” It celebrated a “litany of victories,” including progress towards getting humans both to the moon and Mars, despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the agency’s budget.
The Space Launch System would be phased out under proposed cuts to NASA’s budgetImage: /AP Photo/picture alliance Billions at risk across entire agency The proposed budget would cut NASA’s current $24.8bn budget by 24%, possibly threatening major science projects and the work of thousands of researchers around the world.
However, the cuts would avoid NASA’s human exploration portfolio, according to Reuters. In fact, the Trump Administration proposed a $1bn increase for “Mars-focused programs.”
This would signal a shift in NASA’s priorities away from the moon, which received a push during Trump’s first presidency, towards Mars, which is now being pushed by Musk.
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program, which has been beset by cost overruns, and Orion Spacecraft crew capsule would be dropped by 2027.
Instead, SpaceX’s Starship rocket program is likely to replace both SLS and Orion in the longer-term, having secured a launch services contract from NASA through to 2030/2032 in March 2025.
Moon still a gateway to Mars In its public release on May 2, the White House maintained the budget focuses “funding on beating China back to the moon and on putting the first human on Mars.”
That echoed NASA’s April 29 press release, which said it was “putting the America First agenda into play” and “ensuring the United States wins the space race at this critical juncture.”
“By allocating over $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, it ensures that America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient,” it said.
It said it would achieve its objectives by cutting NASA’s workforce and IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, construction and environmental compliance activities. Other climate and environment-focused initiatives would also be eliminated.
Edited by: Matthew Ward Agius
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